Impacts of Flood on Water Quality of Periyar River and Remediation Using Natural Fibers

Abstract

Kerala witnessed a major flood in August 2018, which brought severe effects on the environment and ecosystem, especially affecting the quality of rivers. This study aims in analyzing the impact of the flood on water quality of the Periyar River. The samplings for the study is taken from ten points along the banks of the river Periyar and were tested for its physical and chemical properties. The present water quality of the river was compared with that of the previous year and also with water quality at the time of flood to analyze the impact of flood. The tested samples were found to be polluted, and this study suggests the application of natural fibers for treating the turbid water for safe drinking and household purposes. The fibers are added to the polluted water in proportion of 1 mg/L with a settling time of 30 minutes. In this study, the remediation using natural fibers such as rice husk ash and coir was done, and the results indicate that the application of these fibers improves the water quality parameters such as pH and turbidity.

Keywords

• coir fibers
• natural fibers
• rice husk ash
• water pollution
• water quality